Uganda Taxed Its Users, Tanzania Taxed Its Bloggers: What Comes Next for Digital Businesses
Uganda and Tanzania both tried to control social media through the tax code, and both discovered the same lesson from opposite directions. Uganda taxed the user and watched its internet economy shrink. Tanzania taxed the publisher and nearly strangled its own blogging industry before quietly reversing course eight years later. Neither country has fully let go of the underlying instinct, control what moves online, and turn it into revenue where possible, but both have been forced to relearn how expensive that instinct actually is. Here's what actually happened in each country, what's changed recently, and what it means for anyone running a digital business or online audience there today. Uganda's Social Media Tax Was a Genuine Policy Failure In July 2018, Uganda introduced what became known as the OTT, or "over-the-top," tax: a flat daily charge of UGX 200 (about $0.05) just to access more than 50 platforms, including Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, and Skype. Pre...
